1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to fishing lures and more specifically to a fishing lure with an automatically retracting hook assembly. This invention relates more specifically to a mechanism providing artificial lures with the ability to hide one or multiple hooks, until such time as a fish strikes the lure. Known art may be found in U.S. class 43, subclasses 34, 35 and related subclasses thereunder as well as other classes and subclasses.
2. Known Art
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the sport of fishing has evolved significantly over time. For example, fishing has progressed from being just a food gathering activity into also a leisure and sporting activity. Further, both leisure and sports fishing have broadened and now encompass an ever widening segment of society. Sports fishing and leisure fishing are also activities that may be undertaken in almost any part of the world.
Many different types of sports fishing and leisure fishing are known and appreciated by the fishing public. For example, deep sea fishing, lake or pond fishing, and stream or river fishing are but a few of the many divisions into which such activities can be categorized. The present invention may be particularly well suited and adapted for use in both lake and pond as well as stream and river fishing. It may also be advantageously employed selectively with deep sea fishing.
Regardless of the type of leisure or sports fishing involved, the equipment used by fishermen has become fairly standardized. For example, most fishing tackle includes a rod, reel, line and an attractant with a method for “hooking” the fish. The attractant is typically either a hook with live “bait” or a conventional fishing lure.
The majority of conventional fishing lures are designed to mimic closely the general appearance of various types of food or “bait” to attract fish (with the exception of the exposed hooks). A common and often irritating problem encountered with conventional fishing lures is that they are susceptible to becoming snagged on submerged objects while being drawn through the water. In addition to snagging, the use of exposed hooks on the exterior of a lure defeats the purpose of making lures that truly resemble bait.
Those skilled in the art of fishing will appreciate that the often irritating annoyance with conventional lures having exposed hooks resulting from the snagging of the exposed hook upon debris during lure retrieval also often results in lost or damaged lures. Attempts have been made to minimize these annoyances.
A number of lures have been proposed that have a retractable hook. Several of these lures have a hook that is normally sustained in a retracted position, and then moves into an exposed position when a fish strikes the lure, thus allowing the hook to become available to “hook” the fish. When the hook is retracted, the lure can pass through the weeds without being snagged.
Although these pre-existing lures are generally adequate for their intended purpose, they have not been satisfactory in all respects. In addition, there is no pre-existing lure that offers a simple internal mechanism design, applicable to a variety of lure shapes, that can be built cheaply and implemented easily, within conventional lure designs without significant revision.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,827,656 to Ohnishi shows a lure plug for fishing including a plug body made of wood or plastics and having a slot extending in a longitudinal direction of the plug body, a hook rotatably secured to the plug body between a position within the slot and a position exposed out of the plug body, a resilient body provided in the slot such that the hook is biased into the position within the slot and an operating member movably provided in the slot. When a fish bites the lure plug, the operating member pushes the hook out of the plug body against a resilient biasing force of the resilient body. When the fish discharges the lure plug, the hook is automatically returned into the position within the plug body, so that the lure plug is effectively prevented from being picked up by obstacles.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,562,661 to Messinger et al. shows a fish lure with concealed hooks. The Messinger device has a hollow body preferably simulating prey for game fish that is slotted on its dorsal and ventral surfaces. At one slot, a lever in the form of a body part of the prey is pivotally secured with a portion extending inwardly and a portion exposed. At the other slot, a fish hook is pivotally mounted. A spring within the hollow body extends between and engages the fishhook and the lever. When the fishhook is depressed to a concealed position within the hollow body, the spring is compressed, a catch on the hook engages a keeper on the lever to retain the hook within the body. If a game fish strikes the lure and presses the exposed portion of the lever, the lever pivots to a position which releases the catch from the keeper and permits the spring to eject the hook to an external position where it can hook the game fish.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,665,634 to Baud shows a fish plug lure. The Baud device includes a fish lure having a body within which is pivoted a hook which can move from a fully-retracted position to an extended position. The leader extending from the fish tackle to the lure is secured to the hook in such a position that the hook is stressed by leader tension toward the extended position. Trigger means, actuatable by the fish, retains the hook in the retracted position until actuated. A resilient member urges the trigger means into the hook retention position. The body of the fish lure resembles fish bait and the trigger means resembles a natural fin thereon.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,782,618 to Rainey shows a weedless fishing lure. The Rainey device includes a weedless fishing lure having at least one hook with an integral cam and a spring within a lure body movable between a retracted and an extended position. The lure body generally is formed of a pair of upper and lower halves, having a separation plate located therein, and which positions the cam of this invention into its operative condition, wherein the securement of a spring therewith normally sustains the cam and its hooks rearwardly and concealed within the lure body, while a linkage connecting the same cam, and when subjected to tensioning pressure, exceeding that of the spring, forces the cam means forwardly, for pivoting of its hooks upwardly, and their exposure externally of the lower body for impaling any fish biting thereon.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,218,778 to Szantor is for a fishing lure. The lure includes a lure body having a hook moveably mounted thereon. The hook moves between a first postion in which its barbed end is located within a protective opening in the lure body and a second position in which the hook is located outside of the lure body for use in hooking a fish. A portion of the hook protrudes outside the lure body in the first position of the hook to be contacted by the mouth of the fish as the fish strikes the lure, thereby allowing the strike to be the motive force for moving the hook outside the lure body. Accordingly, the hook is protected within the lure body except for when the fish strikes the lure to minimize the chances of the lure being caught on weeds or similar underwater obstructions.
The foregoing devices rely principally upon a resilient member, spring or some similar mechanism responsive to a trigger or latch or the like to expose hooks that are retracted within the lure body. A common problem encountered with devices of this type involves the fact that springs tend to easily become clogged in many underwater environments where organic materials, dirt, and other debris are commonly present.
Another problem with devices of this type is that springs, resilient biasing mechanisms, triggers with latches and similar mechanisms can slow deployment of the hook. Since a fish strike may only last a split-second, the speed of hook deployment is critical. Therefore, any method of increasing the speed of hook deployment by decreasing the complexity of the triggering mechanism is desirable.
Furthermore, devices with latches may be falsely triggered by many events, including the common event of the lure striking the water after a cast. In particular, many sports fishermen often cast lures directly at objects such as logs, stumps, pilings, piers and the like. Such casts often result in the lure forcibly striking an immobile object and then falling downwardly into the water whereupon fishing activities immediately initiate. This practice can have the unintended consequence of triggering lures with latches and the like.
Thus, it is desirable to provide an improved fishing lure for the art. In particular, there is a need for a lure that may be cast in a variety of different manners while being adapted to still be deployed in a manner that enables the user to avoid entanglement in weeds, trees, bark, pilings, piers, and the like.